head to head · open source
parcel vs intellij
parcel has 44,025 GitHub stars, 2,284 forks, 606 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. intellij has 820 stars, 343 forks, 224 open issues and last shipped yesterday. parcel leads on adoption by 5,269% (44,025 vs 820 stars). parcel is written in JavaScript under MIT; intellij is written in Java under Apache-2.0. parcel has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, intellij 42%. intellij was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (build-tool), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| parcel | intellij | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 820 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-06 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.3K | ⑂ 343 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick parcel if
- You weight community size — 44K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick intellij if
- You want the intellij feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and intellij fits your workflow better
About parcel
Parcel is a zero configuration build tool for the web, distributed as the parcel package on npm and licensed under MIT. It lives in the JavaScript ecosystem and is written primarily in JavaScript, with its JavaScript compiler implemented in Rust for native performance. The project has been developed for roughly nine years, carries more than 44,000 stars and over 2,200 forks on GitHub, and its documentation is hosted at parceljs.org.
read the full parcel overview →
About intellij
A CLion plugin for Bazel projects As of July 1, 2025, the Bazel for IntelliJ and Bazel for CLion plugins are maintained by JetBrains. These plugins are not offered by nor affiliated with Google. The Bazel trademark and logo are the property of Google LLC. This project uses binary bundles licensed under JetBrains User Agreement. The Bazel for CLion plugin is uploaded to the JetBrains Marketplace regularly from the state of this repository. See the releases tab for more information. Community The Bazel project is hosting a Special Interest Group (SIG) for Bazel IntelliJ IDE plug in. Details about the SIG and how to…
read the full intellij overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is parcel or intellij more popular?
parcel has 44,025 GitHub stars and intellij has 820. parcel has the larger community by that measure.
Are parcel and intellij free?
Both are open source. parcel is licensed under MIT and intellij under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between parcel and intellij?
parcel is written in JavaScript and intellij in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, parcel or intellij?
Choose parcel if you want the larger community (44,025 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose intellij if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.